3 3 Disclaimer: Nothing on the Solari Report should be taken as individual investment advice. Anyone seeking investment advice for his or her personal financial situation is advised to seek out a qualified advisor or advisors and provide as much information as possible to the advisor in order that such advi- sor can take into account all rel- evant circumstances, objectives, and risks before rendering an opinion as to the appropriate investment strategy. NOTE: For additional material available in the online version of this Wrap Up, visit the www.Solari.com website and use the search function to locate the items. 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................4 2. The State of Our Pension Funds ....................................................................................................8 I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................9 II. Global Pension Fund Assets .....................................................................................................11 III. US Pension Fund Assets .........................................................................................................15 IV. A Comment on US Pension Fund History ..............................................................................17 V. Recent Global and Pension Fund Performance ........................................................................18 VI. The Pension Fund Crisis Narrative .........................................................................................23 VII. My Financial History as an Alternative Narrative ..................................................................27 VIII. Total Economic Returns – why are we Financing Governments, Companies, and Products and Services with Negative Returns? ...............................................................32 IX. Other Issues.............................................................................................................................33 X. The Bottom Line .....................................................................................................................35 XI. What Can I Do? .....................................................................................................................36 XII. Appendix ...............................................................................................................................38 3. 2018: Get Ready, Get Ready, Get Ready!.....................................................................................40 Scenario #1: Popsicle Index Rising ...............................................................................................42 Scenario #2: Global Musical Chairs ..............................................................................................44 Scenario #3: Mind Control ..........................................................................................................45 Scenario #4: The War Machine ....................................................................................................46 4. News Trends & Stories .................................................................................................................48 Trends We Track .........................................................................................................................49 Top News Videos .........................................................................................................................51 Part I: Top Ten Stories – Economy & Financial Markets and Geopolitics .................................52 Part II: Top Ten Stories – Culture and Science, Space & Technology ..........................................78 UnAnswered Questions, Inspiration & Go Local .........................................................................85 Trump Report Card .........................................................................................................................86 Donations ....................................................................................................................................87 5. Solari Core Concepts ...................................................................................................................88 6. Financial Market Round Up ........................................................................................................94 Fixed Income ...............................................................................................................................96 Equities .......................................................................................................................................98 Commodities ..............................................................................................................................116 7. And the Winners Are… .............................................................................................................118 Hero of the Year .........................................................................................................................119 Documentary of the Year ...........................................................................................................120 Movie of the Year .......................................................................................................................120 Let’s Go to the Movies ...............................................................................................................121 8. Best Books for 2018 ..................................................................................................................126 9. Vision 2020 ................................................................................................................................138 Closing & Credits .......................................................................................................................137 What Subscribers are Saying .......................................................................................................138 Subscription Form.......................................................................................................................139 Table of Contents CREDITS: We would like to thank Wikipedia Commons for the use of the images on the following pages: 3, 5, 9, 41, 49, 56, 79, 81, 82, 95. “Begin Anywhere” – JOHN CAGE